Israel kills gunman after infiltration from Jordan

A Jordanian truck driver shot and wounded five people on the border with southern Israel before he was shot dead.

Jordanian government spokeswoman Asma Khodr said in a statement that Jordan regretted the attack, which she described as an "isolated" incident.
She reiterated the Government's rejection of "violence targeting civilians".

"A Jordanian truck driver from the [north-eastern Jordanian town] of Zarqa, who had left the Jordanian southern border crossing towards Israel, opened fire with a gun on a group of foreigners in the transit area on the other [Israeli] side," she said.

"Four Ecuadorian nationals were injured as well as a Jordanian driver," the statement added.

"The Israelis opened fire at the gunman, killing him.

"The Jordanian Government is sorry for this incident and reiterates its steadfast position in denouncing any violence targeting civilians.

"It was an isolated incident," she said.

The statement also indicated that, in line with border regulations, travellers at the border posts between Israel and Jordan are not searched upon their departure but upon their arrival on the other side.

This clarification was apparently meant to explain how the assailant was able to carry a gun into Israel.

Israeli authorities said earlier that a gunman wounded at least three tourists before being shot dead when he fired from Jordan into southern Israel at the Arava crossing near the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

However, Zvi Epstein, director of the Josephtal hospital in Eilat, told Israeli public radio that five people had been wounded, some of whom were "tourists from south America, including one woman who has suffered a serious head wound".

Yesterday's incident was the most serious since 1997, when a Jordanian soldier opened fire at a group of Israeli schoolgirls at the northern border between Israel and Jordan, killing seven and injuring six including a teacher.

The attack in Baqura came almost three years after Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty.

At the time Jordan's late King Hussein cut short a visit to Europe and rushed home where he immediately condemned the attack.

He travelled to Israel to offer his condolences to the families of the slain schoolgirls and Jordan later paid compensation.

The perpetrator of the Baqura attack, Ahmad Dakamseh, is serving a life sentence in a Jordanian jail. His motives were never clear.

The southern border between Jordan and Israel has been largely spared from incidents, although infiltration attempts by Palestinian and other militants are often reported in the north.

On October 13, two people were killed and two wounded by Jordanian border guards as they attempted to infiltrate Israel from northern Jordan and light machine-guns and ammunition were found in the area.